The world's oldest continually running clock is that at Wells Cathedral in SW England - dating to the 1380s. There has been horror recently as it is about to get an electric motor.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/7953673/Worlds-oldest-mec...
The clock installed at Salisbury Cathedral, also in England is about as old but has not run without a break.
On a visit to Prague there are 2 astronomical clocks in the museum attached to the old library.
One is a magnificent 15th century piece with the planets revolving around it, an awesome piece of work.
Not acceptable to the bishop though, because it showed the earth revolving around the sun.. which was clearly heresy.
The bishop ordered the builder to make a proper one with the sun revolving around the earth as was God's will...
this one, of course, never properly functioned.
They sit next to each other in the library.
classic.
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In 1968, I came to Prague [Praha] with deep admiration for "Socialism with a Human Face" and the ideals of the Prague Spring .... even the ugliness of the Soviet invasion that I witnessed could not overshadow the stunning beauty of that city and the centuries of culture and spirit that created it. Old Town Square is resplendent with the architecture, art, imagination and majesty of Czech culture. Blessings to Mr. Skala, and the magic of Bohemia.
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What's not mentioned in the article, and to answer several of the questions in the comments, the clock must be restored in time for the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia in 1918.
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We need his help to save the old clock tower in downtown Hill Valley.
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Ahhh Prague, such an amazing city. And this timeless clock is yet one small part of it. There are architectural treasures everywhere one looks when visiting.
It's almost too beautiful to comprehend. And they've got really great beer too!
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It's a shame John B. McLemore isn't still alive to fix it.
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Will time run out if it isn't finished by August?
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It's stories like this that explain why Europeans view the world differently than Americans.
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My grandfather from southern Bohemia studied law at the Charles University in Prague in the late 20s. My grandmother from the same area was also working there. I'm sure they must have seen the clock often. I wonder what they thought.
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The irony is that Mr. Skala has a deadline for a clock that can't tell time. I'm curious as to why he has only until August to complete the work.
Isn't the Prague clock actually a replica, the original now in Las Vegas?
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Can't be, as nothing in Las Vegas is the original of anything.
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amazing device.
I stood in front of this clock in 2004 with my beloved favourite late uncle. We had just arrived from London en route to a family wedding in Klatovy. We hadn't bothered to learn any Czech (we thought a friend of the family would be with us to help translate), but we made our way around the old town area with hand gestures and a phrase book and made sure we saw this clock. It was so wonderful. I must go back to Prague.
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My favorite clock, bar none. I saw it on plenty of shows when I was young and stood in awe, years later on the few times I visited Prague. The Gros-Horlog in Rouen would rank second and the Glockenspiel in the pubic square in Munich would rank third. All a laymens opinion. Sorry British parliament.....
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Oh dear..I was set to visit the clock in June!! Hopefully some of the parts will be visible then..What a magnificent structure.
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I tried googling this, but how do you pronounce Orloj?
Thank you
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Looks to me like it might sound like a French word for clock, "horloge" which sounds like the English words "or lodge" with the accent on the second syllable.
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Or - loi. The j in Czech makes a y sound.
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It's pronounced as "OR LOY". Just FYI.
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Great story, although it leaves me wanting more.
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There was an old lady of Prague
Whose concept of time was quite vague.
In Old Town she flopped --
The Orloj had stopped;
Does she think she’s hatching an egg?
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To Times Readers:
Look up the story of the clock's inventor, Hanus (pronounced HANush), for a truly amazing tale.
Submitted by ROGER LATZGO www.rogerlatzgo.com Germansville PA
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He inventor was Mikulas of Kadan
To the extent that it is possible, Mr. Skala is restoring the Orloj astronomical clock to its originally used materials and specifications. Replacing functioning (metal) gears in the works with "original" wood, though, for the charade of authenticity strikes me as regressive and pretentious. If the goal is to preserve the Orloj as a functioning timepiece, leaving the ostensibly more durable metal in place, and scrupulously documenting when the change from wood was made and why, makes more sense than disassembling the clock repeatedly to replace worn out wooden parts.
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Good point, but it'd be better to upgrade the metal to some sort of extremely durable plastic, as most metals break down too from oxidation.
There was a famous Greek paradox, mentioned by Plutarch, about the Ship of Theseus that was maintained as a revered relic for centuries. Over the years, every plank, nail and rope had been replaced to the point that none of the original ship remained, yet it was still called the "Ship of Theseus". I wonder if the same holds true of the Orloj?
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Certainly true of our USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") here in Boston. Less than 1% of the ship is original yet it's still hailed as a marvel.
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Correction, Naval History and Heritage Command Detachment Boston, the unit charged with overseeing Constitution's maintenance and repair, estimates that 10 to 15 percent of the ship's fabric is composed of timber installed between 1795 and 1797.
No worries really, timekeeping on earth is arbitrary anyway. Since we're in a gravity well, not a single clock on earth is actually accurate (gravity distorts time). And our days aren't 24 hours, they're 23 hours and 56 minutes, approximately. Plus we can't think in or notice nanoseconds, or any smaller intervals, so basically, the answer to the song, "does anybody really know what time it is?", is, "no".
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I bet this argument worked great when you were late for work.
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Dear Stan,
Indeed it does, especially when I go off on one tangent after another, describing what four dimensional space can be pictured as, bringing in Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, mentioning the electron tunneling effect (for no good reason), and generally obfuscating things until my employer forgets what we were discussing in the first place.
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The most amazing clock I have ever seen in my life and in a beautiful city.
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A truly remarkable creation. I wonder what of our current day technologies will be so permanent as to match up with the Astronomical Clock? It's doubtful any of our current inventions can claim such permanence.
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Ah, memories. I visited in 1997 and climbed to the top. Good view of the city. Unfortunately, I lost my film camera and all the pictures. Prague is great. Hope to return.
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I visited Prague in 1996. It is an incredibly beautiful city and the astronomical clock is an amazing thing to see.
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That is the coolest clock in the world.
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Prague is a beautiful city and spending time admiring the clock is a must.
I look forward to a return visit.
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